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The North is 'doubly disadvantaged' by spending cuts, think tank warns

Finance | Niki May Young | 27 Apr 2011

Voluntary and community organisations in the North of England are "doubly disadvantaged" by cuts and should be boosted with government funding for a fixed period, according to the think tank, Institute for Public Policy Research North (ippr north).

In a report called Can the Big Society be a Fair Society: A North East perspective, ippr north challenged the suitability of the coalition's flagship Big Society agenda in a country which has "some of the highest levels of inequality in the developed world".

"If the Big Society is to be a fair society, these realities of UK life must be acknowledged as the starting point," says the report. "The Big Society must not exacerbate existing inequalities, and policies – both centrally and locally – must ensure that all individuals and communities have the capacity and opportunity to participate in it."

But voluntary and community organisations in the South are at a "huge advantage", the report claims, because of the reliance on business donations brought about by statutory funding cuts. Organisations based in London are nearer to the largest number of big businesses and headquarters, and therefore more likely to benefit from donations. Forty £1m or more donations were made in London in 2009/10 compared to just six in the North East, ippr North reports.

The proportion of voluntary and community organisations reliant on public funding is also unevenly proportioned. Some 43 per cent of North East organisations are reliant, compared to 33 per cent in London. 

In all, the report outlines five "causes for concern" in relation to fairness: that community capacity is not evenly distributed; that marginal voices may not get heard; that the importance of the public sector as a funder is not evenly distributed; that philanthropy is not evenly distributed; and a concern that only larger voluntary and community organisations and social enterprises will benefit from the opening up of public service contracts.

These five concerns are matched by three recommendations to ensure the Big Society is a fair society which include a call for the government to use "what little public funding remains" within the sector, and to match private funding in specific "priority areas".

Ed Cox, director of ippr north said: "Good will is beginning to wear thin as people in the voluntary and community sector try to deal with budget cuts, and organisations in the North cannot turn to big corporate or high value donors to make up the gap as London-based organisations can.

"We need to target what little money there is to organisations that struggle to find it elsewhere. Less attractive organisations that lack donor appeal or those operating in areas where business or corporate gifts are hard to come by should be a priority."

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